02/22/02

DELAWARE VALLEY BASSMASTERS

TOURNAMENT RULES (Revised 02/20/02)

I) Rules

A) The rules and regulations set forth in said tournaments shall be interpreted by the tournament committee. Decisions of these appointed people will be final in all matters. The tournament committee consists of the top seven finishers from previous year.

B) All changes in the D.V.B. M. tournament rules will be made during one designated meeting each year. A written proposal must be given to the secretary at any time during the year to be voted on at the designated meeting. At that time, after a period of discussion, the rules may be amended by a Majority vote of members present, provided that a quorum of members are present.

II) Participants and Eligibility:

A) Participation in D.V.B.M. tournaments is by invitation only to or by members in good standing of D.V.B.M.

III) Safety:

A) Safe boating conduct must and will be observed at all times by all tournament participants. While the gas motor is in operation, a U.S. coast guard approved life preserver must be worn and fastened. A kill switch in working order must be used on any boat that is so equipped except in emergency situations . Every boat must meet safety requirements. (02/02)

B) No boat may pass another within a no-wake zone. The no wake zones will be clarified prior to each tournament.

IV) Sportsmanship and conduct:

A) No alcoholic beverages are permitted while boats are in the water. Drunkenness on the part of any contestant during a tournament will be cause for automatic disqualification from that and all future D.V.B.M tournaments. Violation of any prevailing local, State or federal regulations may result in disqualification.

B) All D.V.B.M. rules and regulations must be followed or disqualification may result. (2/92) (02/02)

V) Tackle and equipment:

A) Only artificial lures may be used. No “Live Bait” or “Prepared Bait” will be permitted. However, pork or pork type strips or rinds may be used. Fly rods and/or trolling may be used with the consent of the boat partner. Only one rod may be used at any one time. A snagged rod is not considered to be in use. All bass must be caught live and in a conventional sporting manner.

VI) Boat and motor:

A) Fishing boats may be used that are at least 12 feet in length, or the minimum length required by local laws. Any motor may be used that adheres to the particular regulations of the water to be fished. No inflatable boats may be used.

VII) Boat operation and expenses:

A) A full discussion should be held between the two partners prior to the morning departure as to a schedule of the boat operations. A schedule must be set that permits each partner equal time to choose the fishing locations. Any contestant found operating the boat in an obvious and deliberate manner to handicap his partner shall be disqualified. The present partner fee is $20.00 or half the expenses incurred. (02/20)

B) It is acceptable to get out of ones boat in order to push or pull the boat into a more favorable position.

VIII) Permitted fishing locations:

A) Fishing is permitted any place in tournament water. However, no boat is permitted within a distance that would interfere with another boat already fishing a particular location without consent of the first boater. All fishing must be done in the boat. Boats must stay in the water during the tournament day.

B) Site-specific rules will be discussed prior to each tournament.

IX) Tournament headquarters and send-off:

A) The launch area will be the location of the start and weigh-in of the tournament.

B) During tournament send-off, as your boat number is called, you must pass directly by the release boat and be recognized.

X) Late penalty:

A) Contestants who are not in the official docking area at weigh-in time, will be penalized one pound for each minute late to be deducted from the largest bass and so on. Anyone returning 15 minutes late will lose all credit for that tournament. An official watch will be designated at the start of each tournament at which time all contestants will have the opportunity to synchronize their watches. A request for aid should be honored. Returning late due to circumstances beyond the control of the contestant(s) will be reviewed by the tournament committee. (3/96) (02/02)

XI) Contestant pair off:

A) Up to 2 contestants per boat

B) A non-member (other then a prospective member) may not keep or put any fish in the livewell during the tournament.

C) The tournament drawing will be “Luck of the draw”. Boat owners and riders nameplates will be put into separate containers. Blank nameplates will be added to the rider container until the number of nameplates in each container are equal. The pairing will take place by drawing one name plate from each container. A rider cannot be paired with the same boat owner more than 1 time each year except in the case of site specific pairings. If a boat owner is paired with a rider from a previous tournament, both nameplates are returned to the containers to be re-drawn. (02/02)

D) If in a tournament that has already been drawn, a rider is “bumped” to an alternate boat for which that rider has already fished with or is scheduled to fish with during that tournament year; the rider would be “bumped” to the next eligible boat.

E) If you place yourself in the drawing as a rider when the drawing is held, you must go as a rider in that tournament. If a member is uncertain of status at the time of draw, that member will be considered to be a rider.

F) The starting position of each boat is determined by the order of the draw.

G) Alternate boats will be designated for rider emergency by order of draw. NOTE—The rider must contact alternate boat owners by 9:00 PM on the Wednesday before the tournament.

H) Once a tournament draw is final, all changes involving boat owners and riders must be made with the knowledge and consent of the tournament director and both members affected.

XII) Tournament Hours:

A) To be set by a club vote

B) All tournaments will begin at the appointed time, regardless of late arrivals.

XIII) Ties:

A) The first tie breaker will be decided by the number of fish. The second tie breaker will be the largest fish. ( based on official weight, not weight + bonus) If a tie still exists, place points will be assigned via the mid-ranks procedure (points for adjacent rankings will be averaged and assigned to the tied contestants, and the next lower ranking will revert to the position it would have in absence of ties.

IV) Conduct of weigh-in:

A) Before presenting the catch to be weighed, a contestant may have his fish checked against the courtesy board. Once fish are presented for weigh-in they are subject to official dinking. Contestants will be penalized for fish that do not meet minimum length requirements.

B) Contestant selects his largest bass, which is placed in the weigh-in bag alone and weighed. The weight of the largest bass is recorded. Contestant may request that a second fish be weighed for largest bass if in doubt.

C) All remaining bass are added to the bag and contestant’s entire catch is weighed and recorded.

D) Weights falling between the hash marks on the scale dial will be called at the lower hash marks.

E) Five fish per man limit unless water body limit is less, in which case the lower limit will apply.

F) Culling is permitted and must be done when the limit is exceeded.

G) Exceeding limit or fishing with more then a limit will cause disqualification

H) Ramp conditions permitting, we will wait until all boats are out of the water before weigh-in is commenced.

I) Short fish will not be weighed. Remaining fish will be weighed in usual manner. Then, 1 pound will be subtracted for each short fish submitted. The weight will be deducted from the largest bass first, then the second largest and so on. In any tournament where the minimum length is greater than 12”, the penalty will be 2 pounds for each short fish submitted. (3/96)

J) For each live fish weighed, contestants will be awarded 2 additional ounces to be added to the total catch weight. This weight then becomes the official weight.

K) For each ounce of final weight, one point will be awarded

L) Point totals based on final weight will be ranked in order, highest to lowest

M) All bass must be released in the body of water from which they were caught except for a trophy fish (over 5 pounds).

N) First place will receive an additional 150 points. Place points will be added to the final weight points to achieve final score. The next 19 places will receive 5 points less then the place above them. All other contestants will receive 50 place points to add to their weight points. (4/92)

O) Year end scoring: Each contestant will be given credit for his best 6 tournament scores. Member with the highest total score will be named club champion. Members ranking in the top 7 places will comprise the tournament committee for the following year. (3/92)

XV) Protests:

A) All protests must be in writing and submitted to a tournament committee member within 10 minutes after the close of the scales. The tournament committee will render a decision either on – or sometime before the next club meeting.

XVI) License Requirements:

A) Each contestant must have in his possession a valid state fishing license for the

tournament water to be fished.

B) In multiple license waters the tournament will be drawn 2 months ahead of time.

XVI) Awards:

A) The top seven (7) places at each tournament will be eligible for plaques at the awards

banquet. (3/92)

B) A lunker prize will be awarded annually to the contestant entering the heaviest bass of the year. Contestants catches in the classic tournament are also eligible for the lunker award.

C) A heavy stringer award will be presented to the contestant who weighs the largest stringer of bass during our tournaments, including our classic.

XVIII) Insurance

A) Each member of D.V.B.M. who will be using their boat in a tournament must have a

minimum of $100,000 liability and $1,000 personal injury insurance. (7/16/92)

(3/01/00)